Kirloskar Corrocoat has become the only Indian company to successfully coat the internal surface of a steel chimney stack, standing at an enormous height of 130m. The chimney stack, located at a major refinery in Northern India, was repaired in situ during a scheduled shutdown at the refinery, within a specified timeline of just 28 days.
This full turnkey project required a suspended winch platform to enable the coating team to manoeuver up and down the chimney internal, whilst carrying out the required work. The team cleaned the internals with high-pressure water jetting, to remove the dust inside. The project was completed during the winter months, with temperatures ranging from 5-15°C and foggy throughout. Dehumidifiers were used to control the environment during the application.
The chimney would be operating without flue gas desulfurization for a few years, at a temperature in the range of 135-150°C and it was confirmed by the client that if the preheater failed, the temperature could rise as high as 300°C for between 15 to 30 minutes. With this in mind, Corrothane XT was the coating system selected for this project. This three-pack cold cured vinyl ester urethane polymer alloy with high performing glass flake is an ideal choice for coating both steel and concrete surfaces, where good chemical and high temperature resistance is required. The coating was manufactured and supplied directly by Kirloskar Corrocoat.
Despite extremely tight timescales and undesirable cold and foggy weather conditions, the project management team along with internal and external stakeholders were able to complete this project on schedule and to exacting standards.
